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During a week some Delta employees and contractors were in the news, this story shows that the airline actually does care.
Delta Twitter team member “HBB” found him- or her self dealing with a YouTuber claiming a Delta plane’s toilet jettisoned him out of the aircraft on Wednesday.
Singer Toni Braxton claims a cleaning company employee stole more than $2.5 million of her jewelry in her carryon — which she accidentally left on board a plane.
And a nameless Delta employee helped pet owner Lynsey Schroeder get back home from vacation — because the woman’s dog was gravely ill.
“Delta did a great thing that made a huge difference, and with all of the viral articles bashing airlines you see all the time, this deserves to be seen by just as many people,” Ms. Schroeder wrote on Facebook.
Her dog Quasar was recently diagnosed with metastatic mast cell cancer in his lymph nodes. The pup was given only a year — at the most.
Delta Steps Up to Help a Pet Owner
Ms. Schroeder was in Chile the past couple weeks, taking in the complete solar eclipse.
All was well — until Wednesday.
“(We) got a phone call from our sitter that (Quasar) was in the ER with a 104 degree fever and internal bleeding,” she explains. “We needed to get home ASAP, but changing our flights would have cost a couple thousand dollars that we don’t have. I called Delta, explained the situation, and asked if there was possibly anything she could do to get us home sooner that would be more affordable. To my surprise, her response was, ‘Let me see if there are any spots on the flight today…. yep, okay you’re all set.’ She didn’t charge us a dime.”
Ms. Schroeder made it home the next day. Her last-minute travels included getting to Santiago before waiting out a five-hour layover in Atlanta, and finally making it home to Tucson. All her flights were on time.
A Lyft driver — whom she thanked for “running some questionable yellow lights” got her to the veterinarian’s office.
Quasar was still alive.
“I promised him when I left for Chile that I would be with him when his time came,” she says. “I hope he was still lucid enough to see me and know what I was there. I promised him that he wouldn’t die surrounded by strangers wondering where his mom was. Thanks to Delta, I was able to keep that promise, even if it was only seconds to spare. I gave him a kiss, told him I loved him, and the doctor put an end to his pain.”
“I know that the attitude these days is that corporations don’t care about us, that Fortune 500 companies only care about making money and not about their customers,” she adds. “Airlines get so much bad PR every time something goes wrong, and people will swear off of them based on a single news story. But after this experience I’m swearing ON them. I’m never flying American Airlines again. I would gladly pay a bit more and give Delta my business, even if brand loyalty is mostly a thing of the past. The actions of that single Delta customer service representative—and the company that she worked for—made such a significant difference to me, I will remember it for the rest of my life.”
I Can Already Hear the Protests…
No doubt some people will are furious that Delta graciously accommodated this dog mom — but won’t bend for some other families.
Delta (unfairly) took it on the chin for not comping Delta One seats for a family traveling with an injured child.
The mothership suffered bad publicity after a flight attendant threatened to call police on a family who didn’t completely understand how airline tickets work. Although, Delta allegedly told them ticket swapping was OK.
Given their huge second quarter, it’s nice to see the airline helping someone in an ugly situation. (Not that Delta was starving.) Whatever fare difference or change fee was waived, Delta will surely earn back with Ms. Schroeder’s business — and that of many other travelers moved by her story.
What Do You Think?
Do you agree that Delta did the right thing in this situation? Or should Ms. Schroeder have been subjected to pay fees and fare changes? Has Delta ever helped you out in a dire situation? Please share below your thoughts and experiences! — Chris
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
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“You’re never wrong to do the right thing.” Mark Twain
Well done, Delta. You just need to do it as often as you can. Imagine what your reputation would be, if that was your SOP. This clearly didn’t hurt DL’s profits (the seats were available), and I know that I, for one, would be a more loyal customer to any company that consistently goes out of their way for their customers when it legitimately can.
I keep thinking of the safety demonstration that we’ve all seen/heard a million times: Put your oxygen mask on first; then, assist your child/neighbor. Yes, an airline should go protect its bottom line, and not allow itself to be abused. But with that done, why not take care of customers as completely as possible?